The Maxims

"The cure for jealousy is to know for certain what one has hitherto feared; it is a cruel remedy, yet it is kinder than doubt and suspicion."

" We are all strong enough to bear the misfortunes of others."

"Familiarity is a relaxation of almost all the rules which govern civilised life; it has been introduced into society by the libertines with the intention of making us feel what they call more "comfortable." It is a product of that self-love which would adjust all to our own weaknesses by making us no longer subject to the honorable discipline imposed by good manners: and in its efforts to make manners as easy as possible, it degrades them to the level of vices. Women , being by nature more pliable than men, are more quickly affected by such relaxation, and have more to lose thereby. The authority of women is no longer maintained; the respect due to her sex is diminished; and one might say that in the process a virtuous woman forfeits the greater parts of her rights."

"A man's happiness or unhappiness depends as much upom his temperament as his destiny."

The Maxims of de la Rochefoucauld. In 1665, he anonymously published the Maximes, which established his position among the men of letters of the time.